Teenagers: Quality of life, traffic & mobilty

The objective of the proposed study is to take a closer look at the relationship between traffic conditions & mobility (T&M) and quality of life (QoL). Mobility, how people move around is a transversal issue that covers basically almost all the activities of a normal person, whether he or she moves for work, leisure, access to services etc. There are many strategies to shape the citizens` way of mobility: we can reduce the need of car mobility e.g. by improving the local services or by planning a better distribution of the activities or we can increase sustainable ways of mobility by investing energies on alternative means of transportation, like public transportation, bicycling, car pooling etc.. Some research has been done recently on European Level to get more detailed information about the relationship between T&M and QoL. There is, however hardly any research done, how young people`s mobility is interrelated to their feeling of life quality. In our proposed project we will focus on the target group of young people aged 14 to 19. They are the next generation, who will shape our future society. And as Ruoss (1999) said the quality of life will depend on the way people will deal with their need of mobility, it is very important to find out more about the needs and wishes of young people with respect to mobility preconditions. Only extensive research on this matter will enable politicians, traffic planers etc. to take measures which will influence the choice of transport modes of young people in a more sustainable way. The main hypotheses of our study is if alternative modes like walking, cycling and the use of public transport systems are considered by the young people as adequate, full-fledged and ordinary way of moving then it is more likely that young people will stay responsible road users in the future. Our research is focused on Austria, teenagers living in cities suburban and rural areas will be interviewed. Differences between central and peripheral areas in the mobility conditions may be expected. The main aim of our study is to find out how T&M preconditions have to be shaped in order to guarantee that young citizens in the future will move in a sustainable way. The following two goals are envisaged in connection with this main aim: Goal number 1: Evaluation of the relationship between QoL and T&M conditions with focus on young citizens. Mobility preconditions, the way how people move & travel, the causes and purposes why people (have to) travel, in what kind of traffic environment they live, etc. have an effect on their QoL. The daily experiences of children and youngsters on the other hand have a direct impact on their future choice of mode. For that reason it is very important to understand the character of the relationship between T&M preconditions and QoL. In this project this relationship will be analysed systematically from a psychological and socio-scientific point of view. Goal number 2: Providing recommendations and measures that will help to enhance sustainable ways of mobility. The project is based on a state of the art report and on qualitative and quantitative analyses (focus group and quantitative interviews, expert discussions and workshop). The findings of the study will allow formulating recommendations and a catalogue of measures in the area of T&M. This catalogue will include suggestions how QoL aspects can be considered in an appropriate way in the T&M area and what kind of (planning) preconditions have to prevail, in order to make especially teenagers move also in the future in a sustainable way.

Mobility makes up a significant part of our quality of life. The context where mobility takes place plays an important role as it contains the key elements that enable the individuals to be a part of the society. The manifold links between mobility and quality of life represent an important area of research.As part of the research project "Teenagers: Quality of Life, Traffic & Mobility" (FWF Austrian Science Fund, P 23194-G17) a specific research topic has been selected, namely the quality of life and mobility of Austrian young people aged 14-19. For the most part, adolescents use public transport, they walk or cycle. Compared to the adult population they rarely use the car, neither as a driver nor as passenger. In short, young people exhibit sustainable mobility behaviour. Once they obtain the driving license, enter the labour market or start a family this mobility behaviour changes. The main objective of this report was to identify the factors that determine that young people are able to move around openly and, at the same time, maintain a high level of quality of life. This task was completed with the help of an extensive literature research, focus group interviews held with young people and an Austria-wide online survey with 800 teenagers between 14 and 19 years. Two expert workshops with national and international experts (from Switzerland, Germany and the Czech Republic) from the fields of urban, regional and transport planning, with representatives from relevant ministries, from transport operators and from youth associations backed the discussion and evaluation of the identified measures, and of the projects results. Besides the presentation of the project results in scientific journals and at conferences, an attractive folder with clear and comprehensible content aimed at the target group, was developed. The objective was to get young people interested in the topic of sustainable traffic and mobility and to encourage them to maintain sustainable mobility patterns beyond the transition phases.